


expect the unexpected

by barbiezdrunk



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: :), Alternate Universe - Big Brother, Athletic Liam, Final Five Alliance, Flirtmances, Loud Louis, M/M, NO MENTION OF ONE DIRECTION, No band, Quiet Zayn, Secret Alliances, Social Niall, That's it, Won't be graphic, Wow, based off a tv show, eleanor makes an appearance, hope you like it, just saying, larry - Freeform, no one else - Freeform, really aren't a lot of tags for this, sneaky Harry, so does perrie, some smut, sorry - Freeform, uh, you'll see why - Freeform, ziam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 06:42:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7747198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barbiezdrunk/pseuds/barbiezdrunk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Big Brother follows a group of people living together in a house outfitted with dozens of high-definition cameras and microphones recording their every move, 24 hours a day. Each week, the Houseguests will vote someone out of the house. At the end, the last remaining Houseguest will receive the grand prize of $500,000."</p>
<p>the TV-based AU in which the boys are on a reality tv show and are competing for half a million dollars. harry is the sneaky one who only stays loyal to a single person in the game, louis starts fights with everyone, zayn floats his way around the house, niall has a final two deal with everyone, and liam wins a lot of competitions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. meet the houseguests

**Author's Note:**

> ALRIGHT SO LET ME EXPLAIN A FEW THINGS ABOUT THIS SHOW SO YOU AREN'T COMPLETELY LOST.  
> so basically, sixteen people go into a house sealed off from the outside world. no computers no phones no nothing that allows them to communicate with the outside world. each week, there's an HOH (HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD)(crowned from an HOH competition) who nominates two people for eviction. then, there's the POV (POWER OF VETO) competition, in which the HOH, the two nominees, and three other houseguests chosen from random draw can compete. whoever wins the POV has the option of 'vetoing' one of the nominations and removing one of the two houseguests off the block (block=threat of eviction), causing the HOH to have to nominate someone else, or has the option of leaving the nominations the same. then, once a week, the houseguests who are not on the block will privately vote out one of the nominees. the HOH only votes in the event of a tie. they do this every week until there's a final person standing. 
> 
> IT'LL MAKE SENSE AS THE FIC PROGRESSES. I DO NOT OWN BIG BROTHER. I REPEAT, I DO NOT OWN BIG BROTHER OR ANYTHING IN ASSOCIATION TO IT. THIS IS STRICTLY BASED OFF THAT TV SHOW. ALL RIGHTS TO THEM.

**Day 99:**

He looks at the two boys sitting on the chairs in front of him, the realization that he's about to betray one of the two men in front of him weighing heavily on his chest. He runs a hand through his hair, tugging on the roots slightly (a habit he picked up early in the summer) and taking a deep breath. He faintly hears Julie Chen prompting him to make a decision, but he's already made it; how he's going to break the news without ruining his chances of winning is beyond him.

Well, better spit it out.

He opens his mouth, words flowing freely. "It's been a great summer playing with both of you. I'm glad I've gotten to know both of you not just as alliance members, but as people I hope to be friends with outside of this house. I've grown to trust you two with my Big Brother life, and I'm that we were able to make it as far as we have. However, I can only take one of you two to the final two with me. I'm sorry, I truly am, but I vote to evict-"

**Day 1:**

Julie Chen, host of the reality TV series Big Brother, stares at the sixteen strangers in front of her. Soon, very soon in fact, eight women and eight men will enter the Big Brother house for either seven days, thirty days, or ninety nine days. All of them carry eager smiles on their faces, and Julie almost laughs; fourteen of the contestants will be walking away with nothing.

"Houseguests," Julie says, smiling at the people in front of her. "Welcome to Big Brother. In just a few moments, you all will enter the house four at a time, and will be cut off from the outside world. Whether that's for a week, or for the entire duration of the summer, will depend on how you play your game. I wish luck to all of you, and as I've always said, expect the unexpected."

Laughs and chuckles come from the soon to be houseguests, all of them gripping their single duffel bag in their hands. They're all staring at Julie expectantly, waiting for her to announce who will be entering the house.

"If there are no objections, let's begin. The first four houseguests to enter the Big Brother house are..."

-

Harry Styles is one of the first four people to enter the house. He's elated, looking around the decorated house with big green eyes. There are two girls and another guy in there with him, and all four of them are cheering and making their way towards the bedrooms, trying to get the best bed before the rest of the people come in. Harry throws his bag onto a random bed in the corner of a bright blue room. Hopefully he won't have to share his bed for a while; he doesn't know shit about any of these people and he definitely doesn't want to start in the bed.

"Hi, I'm Jessica!" an over-eager blonde woman says, shaking hands with Harry. 

He returns a smile, shaking her hand gently. "Harry. Pleasure to meet you."

Just as the other two are introducing themselves (Eleanor and Thompson), the door to the house is opening again and the shouts of four more houseguests echo through the place. Standing in the living room, Harry hugs whoever and whatever throws their arms around his slender frame. He's hugging men and women left and right and so many people are shouting names at him right now that he's gone name-deaf. He doesn't even try to remember their names, just blurting his own name out every chance he gets. 

"Where are the bedrooms?" a high-pitched voice sounds. Harry turns his head to the right to see a short man with feathery brown hair and electric blue eyes. Harry cocks his head to the right and grins; potential ally? Something about the other man makes Harry confident that he would make a good partner in this game.

"Just that way and around the corner," Harry answers, his deep voice contrasting heavily to the unknown man's. The smaller person disappears quickly, returning back to the living room just as another group of four are entering the house.

One boy is flying around the living room, hugging and greeting everyone with a wide smile on his face. He runs up to Harry, throws his arms around his neck, yells something about his name in a strong Irish accent, then disappears towards the bedrooms. Harry stands for a second, dazed at the quick interaction, a high pitched laugh pulling him out of his daze. When Harry finds the source of the laugh, he sees the petite boy from a moment before laughing behind a hand.

"Definitely an energetic one, he is," the man says, holding his hand out to shake Harry's. "I'm Louis. You must be Harry?"

The latter almost asks how Louis guesses his name correctly, but then he remembers that Harry entered the house before Louis and he probably heard his name from Julie. Nodding his head, he shakes Louis' hand with a smile.

"Great to meet you."

After the last four guests have entered the house and gotten the bed situation figured out (Harry is lucky enough to not have to share a bed; others, not so much), they gather in the living room and arrange themselves on the two couches and two singular chairs surrounding a clear coffee table. Harry is squished between a man with chiseled facial features and a girl with purple hair that Harry adores. Across from him on the other couch, is Louis, who's sitting comfortably between two men, his arms resting behind their shoulders. He catches Harry's eye and winks, causing Harry to smile and look away.

The Irish boy is the one popping the champagne, his face lighting up when the cap pops off and champagne oozes out off the bottle. He fills everyone's glasses before sitting on the arm rest of Louis' couch.

"Let's all introduce ourselves," he says, smiling widely. Everyone's attention turns to him; it's impossible not to be drawn to his charismatic attitude. "I'm Niall Horan, I'm twenty two years old and I'm from Mullingar, Ireland." Harry's eyebrows raise at this; that's a long way from here. "I work as a shop owner in a small town in North Carolina."

The house toasts to his speech, everyone sipping from their glasses respectfully. The go counter-clockwise, everyone introducing themselves with a small antidote about them. Harry fades in and out of the conversation, not really a fan of meet and greets. He gets basic information from basic people. Only a few people's introductions stick out to him; there's Louis, a single twenty-four year old footie player from Doncaster, Zayn Malik, a twenty three year old man with shadowy features and a strong gaze, and Liam Payne, a twenty two year old man who works as a body builder. They all stuck out to him for different reasons; Louis because Harry is already thinking about working with him, Zayn because he seems like a kind of guy Harry needs to watch his back for, and Liam because he's athletic; obviously he'll be winning a lot of competitions.

When it's Harry's turn to give a short speech, he stands up with a smile and makes eye contact with everyone. "I'm Harry Styles, I'm twenty two years old and I own a bakery in a small town in North Carolina." Niall cheers at this, his face lighting up in response to Harry's statement. "Um, I guess I'll come out and say that I'm gay."

He receives automatic cheers from everyone, the support from the other houseguests flooding the living room like a tsunami. Harry looks around the room again with a smile, his eyes landing on Louis' once again. When they do, the older boy smirks slightly.

_Hm._

Everyone disperses after another hour of getting to know each other. The majority of the house heads towards the kitchen, already looking into what food the producers provided. A few people head towards the back bedrooms, checking out the rooms and seeing if they can make any bed switches. Harry opts to stay on the couches, and he's not the only one; Louis, Niall, Zayn, and two girls with names that Harry can't remember stay seated in their spots.

"So," Niall begins, sliding off the arm of the couch and onto a cushion, "can you tell us how coming out to your family was? I only ask because I've had a few friends who've had bad experiences, and I was just wondering how your experience was."

Harry smiles. "It was fine. They were very supportive. My mum cried a little bit, and my older sister just gave me a hug and told me that she was proud that I figured out who I am. It was very encouraging."

"That's amazing," Louis says. "It must be nice to have such a supportive family." He says it with a slightly bitter tone, but Harry decides not to comment on it.

"Yeah." And that's that.

-

Later that evening, when it's dark outside and everyone has spread out through the house (five houseguests have gone to bed, four are in the kitchen, three are in the bathroom, and three are in the living room), Harry has opted to sit outside in the backyard, comfortably resting on the outdoor couches. His eyes are closes, have been for a while, and only open when he hears the glass door sliding open. He opens an eye to see Louis walking towards him, carrying a cigarette in his finger.

"Hey," Harry greets, sitting up on the couch. Louis sits across from him, twiddling with the cigarette in his fingers.

"Hi," he responds. 

They sit in comfortable silence, the only noises they hear echoing from inside the house. Neither of the two of them talk for a while, just enjoying the company they have.

"So," Louis says, his voice quieter than before. "I've been thinking," he elaborates, "you know, about the game? I know it's probably too early- I mean, it's day one- but I'm trying to look down the road. We have the HOH competition tomorrow, and I want to have a solid plan going in. I want to have someone I can trust, you know?"

Harry nods. If this is going the way he thinks it is...

Louis continues. "Well, I feel like I can trust you. Obviously we don't know each other's game plan, but I think we could work together throughout the game. We can make it so that people never know we're working together, and we can essentially take over the game."

Harry nods again. "So are you asking me to be one of your allies?"

Louis shakes his head. "No, not  _one_ of my allies, my  _only_ ally. I believe that if I have one person I fully trust, then that's all I need. I don't need seven other people to win this game. I just need one person. After all, there is only two people who can make it to final two."

Harry smirks. "Final two deal, eh?"

"Final two."

**Day 2:**

Harry, along with the rest of the house, walks into the backyard to find a whole bunch of Popsicle-looking things hanging from some sort of ceiling. Harry inwardly groans; this is going to be an endurance competition, and he hates endurance competitions. He's fit, yes, but he really doesn't want to hang on a colored foam tube for hours on end.

Perrie, the girl with purple hair, picks up the card that explains the rules of the competition.

"'In the very first HOH competition of the summer, houseguests must hold on to their foam tube for dear life. At any point, if any of your body parts hit the ground below, you are out. The final houseguest left hanging onto their foam tube will be the first HOH of the season!'" She finishes it with a bright smile.

Everyone makes their way towards a tube, Harry opting for a blue one. As he stares at the tube, he realizes that there's nothing for him to hold onto. He will literally have to wrap his arms and legs around the tube and hold to stay on it. Harry has never hated his tall statue more than he does now.

A producer comes on overhead to tell everyone to climb onto their tubes. Harry easily hoists himself onto the tube, noticing how Liam, the body builder, is to his right and Eleanor Calder is to his left. Harry locks his ankles around each other and grips his left wrist in his right one. He doesn't feel a burn yet, but he's sure that after a while of dangling in the air, he'll start to feel it.

"This competition begins now."

The tubes rise into the air, the bottom of them no longer touching the mat below. The one good thing about this competition is they aren't swinging in circles; Harry definitely couldn't do that. 

Various moans and complaints sound around him, and focusing on them eases his concentration on his arms and legs. They aren't aching yet (it's been what, ten minutes?), but he knows they will soon. 

Eleanor is already showing signs of struggle; she almost loses her grip on the tube and drops, regaining her hold on it at the last second. To his right, Liam hasn't shown any signs that this competition is even bothering him. He's just handing there like this is something he does every day. 

A loud 'Oof!' and a buzzer sound at the same time. Harry peeks around his tube to see Emily Atherton sprawled on the ground.  _Way to last thirteen minutes_.

-

It's going on half an hour hanging onto the tube, and Harry's arms are getting sore. There's ten of them hanging on the tube; himself, Liam, Zayn, Niall, Louis, Mitchell, Bonnie, Grant, Bevin, and Casey. Harry is just starting to think that something is missing from this competition, something to make it unbearable, which all of a sudden water douses him from above.

Harry can hear Louis screaming in protest. "What the hell is this?"

Harry can't move; if he moves, he'll lose touch with the dry parts on his tube and completely slide off the foam. Trying to ignore the water is difficult; it's freezing cold and randomly falls from a pipe above Harry's tube at random intervals. 

He still hasn't decided if he actually wants to win this HOH. If he does, it'll secure his and Louis' safety for the upcoming week. However, he doesn't know if he wants to make the first move of the summer. 

Harry decides he's not going to fall off soon; as Zayn, Mitchell, Bonnie and Casey topple off their tubes, he still holds on with an iron grip.

-

It's been an hour and forty two minutes, and Harry wants to kill himself.

The only people left on the tube is himself, Louis, Niall, and Liam. Harry knows Liam isn't going to drop anytime soon; the man looks like he could hang on their all day.

"Alright, can we start cutting deals?" Niall asks, his voice laced with exhaustion. "I'm dying, and I would love to let go if you give me your word that you won't put me up."

Harry nods his head, all good with cutting deals. "Yeah, I won't put you up. You're safe with me."

Niall slips from his tube after Louis and Liam voice their agreements, his body landing on the mat. He lays there before getting up, dragging his tired limbs towards the sitting area.

"Hey, man," Harry says, looking at Liam. He turns to face Harry, his face showing his discomfort. Only then does Harry realize that Liam's just as exhausted as he is.

"If you want to drop, I won't put you up," Harry offers. It's up to Liam at this point; Harry'll drop if Liam wants to the competition bad enough, but if the latter is okay with letting Harry take the HOH key then he's fine with that too.

Liam ponders for a moment. "You swear you won't put me up? Not even as a back up plan?"

Harry nods. "Swear. You won't go up."

In response, the body builder drops from the tube and falls onto the mat, walking from the area in a similar fashion to Niall. Harry looks at Louis, who's across the way from him, and waits for the older boy to make a move.

_You want it?_ He mouths, his lips shaping the words without making a sound.

Harry shrugs, his face contorting into one of "If-you-want-it-take-it". Louis bites his lip before completely letting go of the tube and falling to the mat below, laying there comfortably. Harry slides down, landing on his two feet then toppling to the ground, his legs wobbly with exhaustion.

"Congratulations Harry, you're the first HOH of the summer!" comes the voice of the producer overhead.


	2. hoh - harry styles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> harry's hoh room, an alliance is formed, nominees are decided. in the process of it all, h&l begin their takeover of the game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the hoh gets their own room, a special gift basket, and a letter from their family. any more questions?? ask in the comments!!

**Day 2:**

"Who wants to see my HOH room?" is shouted from the diary room door, Harry Styles the person it's coming from. Louis Tomlinson looks up from his spot on the sofa, where he's watching Eleanor paint her nails and listening to Niall talk about Mullingar. He smiles slightly at the boy's wide smile; yes, picking Harry was a good idea.

Everyone follows him through the house, up the winding staircase, and towards the locked door to the HOH room. He uses the key around his neck to unlock it, opening the door with a wide smile. Everyone crowds the room, Louis being one of the first to enter. The room follows the same blue, clear, and white theme from the rest of the house, the bed having a white comfortable and blue sheets, white rugs littering the floor, and bright blue walls. It's a nice room.

There are pictures of Harry with his family on a table, and Louis looks over them with crinkling blue eyes. There's a picture of him with his sister, she being in a graduation cap and donning a bright smile similar to his own. Next to that picture is a picture of Harry and the same girl on both sides of who appears to be his mum; Louis smiles at this pictures, they're a very cute family.

"Harry! Your sister is a babe!" Niall cheers, causing the houseguests to laugh.

Harry, who's rummaging through the gift basket with Liam, Thompson, and Lauren, whips his head around. "Niall, you will be staying away from my sister." He says with a smile, and Louis laughs.

"Harry, read the letter!" Lauren holds up a folded piece of paper with his name on it. He takes it from her hand with a smile and sits on the edge of the bed, everyone else gathering around him. Louis sits on the floor near Harry's feet, his back against the bed. He turns his head so he can watch Harry read the letter.

It's quiet as he begins to read, even Niall shutting up so Harry can read his letter.

His voice is unsteady from the get go. 

"' _Dear Harry, your sister and I are watching you from our house, and Barbara is watching from the bakery. Whenever Big Brother is on, she plays it on the TV in the main room so everyone can watch. We're all rooting for you and we're sure you'll go far in the game. Keep your head up and try not to think about us so much. You know we're here for you, even if we're not together physically. I love you, Mum._ '" Harry swallows then laughs, wiping at his eye with his finger.

"And then my sister has her own personal part to the letter, it says ' _Harry, you better not be crying while you read this, I can't have my baby brother crying like a baby on national television. Man up and go win half a million dollars so you can give half to me. Gemma._ '" He laughs again, this time sounding less sad about it.

"She's funny," a woman, Louis thinks her name is Destiny, says, smiling at Harry from the couch. Everyone nods in agreement.

"She's a handful," Harry replies, smiling at the camera in the room. He stands up and puts the note back by the gift basket, and most everyone takes this as a sign to leave the room. Louis stays on the floor, not budging as everyone clears out of the room. When the door shuts behind the last person, he jumps up with a smile.

"Congratulations, Hazza!"

Harry laughs, pulling Louis into a hug. His taller frame completely enveloping Louis' smaller statue. "Thanks, is that your new nickname for me?"

Louis pulls away, laughing. "Come on, we're going to the final two together, I'm sure I could make a nickname for ya."

"That's fair. I'll call you...Lou?"

"Sounds like a plan." Louis falls back onto the comforter, tucking his hands behind his head and looking at Harry. "Speaking of plans, what are you thinking for nominees this week?"

Harry shrugs, fingering through the gift basket. "I'm not sure. I swore to Liam I wouldn't put him up. Obviously you aren't going up. I don't really know who should go up."

Louis sits up. "How about Niall and Emily? Niall's really talkative, and Emily isn't athletic at all. She's a floater, I think, and I hate playing with floaters."

Harry shakes his head. "Emily, yes. Niall, no. He's talkative, yes, but that means he can get people to open up. I'd rather have him on our side rather than against us."

Biting his lip, Louis ponders this for a second. Harry does have a point, but Louis isn't so sure about working with a very talkative, very social player. How long before Niall outs them, if they do decide to work with him? He sees Harry's point, but he also sees his own point. 

"Are you thinking about starting an alliance?" Louis blurts, looking at the HOH with a speckle of doubt in his eye. 

Harry shrugs. "I don't know. This early in the game, you and I are going to need some allies to get us where we want. Once it gets down to nine or eight people, you and I can completely take over and start manipulating people. Right now, we need people to take the heat for us when we make moves. We need people we can throw under the bus when we need to."

Louis smirks. "So you're not talking real alliance. You're talking about stunt people?"

The HOH laughs, his head tilting back as he does. "Yeah, I'd say that sounds about right. Nice analogy."

"Alright, got any ideas in mind?" Louis asks.

"I'm thinking Liam, just because he's a physical threat and I want to make sure we have him in our back pocket so we don't have to worry about being targets when he's HOH." Harry nibbles on his lip. "I'm feeling Niall, just because I'd rather have a social player on our side than against us. We can persuade him to go talk to people and get other people to trust him and if we ever need to, we can out him for it" 

Louis nods his head slowly. "Okay, yeah, that's all good ideas. We need one more person, one to solidify the group. We need a quiet person."

Harry shrugs, sitting on the couch. "Um, I don't know? There's quite a few quiet people in the house."

"Tell you what," Louis stands up and makes his way towards the door, "I'll head downstairs and send Niall and Liam up. You can talk to them while I look for a promising ally. Then, the two of us will come up and we can finalize the deal. Sound like a plan?"

Harry nods. Louis turns around, opens the door, and steps back into the house.

-

True to his word, Louis discreetly sends Liam and Niall upstairs towards the HOH room. Most everyone is gathered in the kitchen, talking about anything and everything with each other. Louis naturally adds himself to the conversation, standing around the circle table in the center of the kitchen and looking around him while keeping an ear open for conversation.

"What do you think he's going to do?" a girly voice sounds. Louis puts the voice to Emily, the first girl to fall off her tube in the competition. "Like, he has to put up two nominees. I wonder who he'll put up?"

Louis discreetly rolls his eyes.  _You, you idiot_. He doesn't say anything; just looks around and tries to find someone who's seemingly quiet.

"I bet he'll put up Niall," Bonnie says, her voice sounding sure. "He's so social with everyone, his social game is amazing."

"We should persuade Harry to put him up," Mitchell urges. "We can all vote him out, and we can convince Harry that it's no blood on his hands."

Louis looks at Mitchell. "Isn't it a bit early to get out a big target?" 

Mitchell raises an eyebrow. "How is it too early? That's the point of the game, is to get out targets."

Rolling his eyes, Louis says, "I get that, but once you get out all the big targets, you suddenly become a target yourself. Keeping Niall here will help get rid of the floaters."

"Yeah, but if you keep the floaters, you have a better chance of winning comps."

A deep voice interrupts the conversation, bringing everyone's attention to him. "Louis' right. Keeping the bigger targets is better for our game."

Louis' head swivels to meet the smoldering gaze of Zayn Malik, and it automatically clicks in his brain. Zayn is the quietest person in the house, only talking when he absolutely has to. Bingo.

"Whatever." Mitchell turns back to Eleanor and Perrie, having a conversation with them.

Louis waits a few minutes before approaching Zayn. He pulls him by the arm to get his attention and nods his head towards the HOH room. Zayn has a look of understanding on his face, immediately following Louis towards Harry's room. Louis pushes the door open, revealing Harry on the bed, and Niall and Liam on the couch.

"Hey guys," Niall greets, as Louis and Zayn walk into the room. Liam and Harry look to the doorway as Zayn quietly shuts the door.

"Alright," Harry begins, once Louis is next to him on the bed and Zayn is sitting next to Niall on the couch. "This is a strong group of five here. We have every personality we need to have a strong alliance. Liam, you can win comps like a beast. Niall, everyone knows you have a great social game. Zayn, you're super quiet. You'll fly under everyone's radar. Louis can pick up on conversations and I'm the first head of household. We have every base covered."

"Are we talking alliance?" Liam asks, his right foot resting on his left knee. "Cuz, if it's just us five, I'm down with that."

Louis nods. "Yes, we're thinking the five of us. If at least one of us can win the head of household competition every week, we're pretty much sitting pretty this season." Harry nods in agreement. "This is a strong group right here, and I'm getting a lot of good vibes from it."

Niall, seeming serious for once, nods. "Yeah, me too. What are you thinking for nominations, H?"

Just as Harry is opening his mouth, Louis butts in. "Actually, I have a good idea of who needs to go up. When Zayn and I were downstairs, everyone was speculating who should go up. Mitchell said they should try to convince Harry to put up Niall so they can vote him out."

Niall looks pissed. "What? Why me?"

"They said you have a great social game," Zayn explains, looking at the Irish boy. "They think it's better to get out big targets now instead of the floaters."

Niall rolls his eyes. "I'm not even a big target."

Harry grins. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, you aren't going up this week. None of you are."

"Are we serious about this?" Liam asks, putting his foot back on the ground and leaning forward. "We're legit talking about an alliance here?"

Louis nods. "Yeah, obviously it's early in the game but-"

"It's never too early to start an alliance," Zayn says, looking around. "Let's do it. Alliance."

"We need a name," Niall decides. "You know, one that goes down in the history books as the best alliance ever."

"Hm," Harry says, biting on his lip and running a hand through his curls. "Any ideas?"

"Let's do the Running Men," Liam suggests. "You know, since we're men, and we're all about to run this game."

Louis grins widely, clapping his hands together. "That, my friend, is amazing. Let's do it. The Running Men."

"Love it," Harry agrees. He pulls his knees to his chest. "Now, for eviction. Who are we thinking?"

"Mitchell," Niall immediately says. "I want him out."

Liam nods. "Yeah, he's already stirring waves down there. We can't have someone like that in the game. Too unpredictable."

Once the nominations have been decided amid the men, Zayn and Liam decide to head back downstairs to not raise suspicion. Niall hesitates before going down, turning to Louis and Harry.

"You guys don't really think my social game is that great, do you?"

Louis grins. "Your social game is great Niall, but not in the way Mitchell is talking. We have your back, you don't have to worry about any problems from us."

Niall nods before leaving the room, leaving Harry and Louis alone in the HOH bedroom.

Louis looks at Harry with a grin on his face. "Well, that went well." 

-

**Day 3:**

Louis, along with the rest of the houseguests, is sitting in the backyard, his feet propped atop the table. Harry is currently inside the house, putting the keys in the box and finalizing his nominee decision. Louis keeps his gaze on the table; there's a bit of wonder in the air, no one really sure if they're safe or not. That is, with the exception of the members of the Running Men alliance. Louis fronts like he's nervous, and he even speculated with a few of the houseguests about who Harry is putting up, but Louis knows he's sitting pretty this week and has nothing to worry about.

The door to the backyard slides open, Harry's curly haired head poking out. "Guys, it's time for the nomination ceremony," is all he says, disappearing back into the house. Everyone gets up from their spots on the sofas and floor, making their way towards the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, Louis takes a seat between Bonnie and Niall, taking the seat across the circular table from Mitchell; front row seating to a show of the latter's reaction to being on the block.

"This is the nomination ceremony," Harry begins, the rehearsed speech flowing from his mouth easily. "As head of household, it's my job to nominate two people for eviction. I will turn one key in the box, and that person's face will appear on the wall. I will turn the second key in the box, and that person's face will also appear on the wall. I will now turn the first key."

Harry steps forward, his long fingers twisting the key in the box. As he does so, Emily's face pops up on the wall behind him. Louis' eyes immediately direct to her face, where a pinched smile is taking over her features.

 _Now, for the good one,_ Louis thinks to himself as Harry twists the second key in the box. Just as he thought, Mitchell's face takes on a look of anger when his pictures pops up below Emily's. Perfect. Louis has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep his smirk from showing. In his peripheral vision, Louis can see Niall casually intertwining his fingers together in front of his mouth to hide the smile on his face. Louis looks down to his lap, smiling slightly at his fingers.

"Emily, Mitchell, I've nominated you both for eviction this week," Harry says. "Emily, you aren't much a physical threat, as we can see from how you barely lasted in the HOH competition. The upcoming veto comp will give you a chance to prove that you deserve to be in this game. Mitchell, your name has been brought up on several different occasions as an option to be put up. It's only day three, and your name was almost always the topic of conversation. Not a good way to start the summer." Harry grasps the key box in his hands, stepping away from the table as he says, "This nomination ceremony is adjourned."

Everyone stands up from the table, giving hugs to Mitchell and Emily. Louis hugs Emily with no problem, rubbing her back and saying she's going to be fine. Mitchell, on the other hand, seems to blame Louis for him being on the block.

As soon as Mitchell has pulled Louis into a half ass bro hug, he says, "I can thank you for being on the block this week, can't I?"

Louis snorts. "Whatever, buddy. If you were half as worried about being on the block as you are about who put you there, you would probably stop trying to piss of who'll be voting on Thursday."

Mitchell pulls away with a scowl. "I'll make sure it's your ass sitting in that chair come eviction night."

Louis walks away, deciding to go find the head of household before he completely goes off on Mitchell. No chance in hell would Harry put Louis on the block. Mitchell has another thing coming if he actually thinks he can convince Harry to put him up. Idiot.

 _No wonder your stupid ass is on the block_ , Louis thinks to himself, just as he sees Harry coming out of the living room. Louis subtly gestures for them to head up to the room, and Harry obliges, following the smaller man through the kitchen and up the stairs.

Once in the room, Louis falls on the bed with a huff. "Mitchell tried to tell me it's my fault he's on the block. I mean, I know it is, but seriously, it's like he wants to be evicted."

Harry laughs, sitting on the bed beside his ally. "Don't worry, I'm making it my personal goal to get him out of here. With the way he's running his mouth, I'm sure he'll be sending himself out the door, with or without my help."

Louis snorts. Funny, smart, and good at Big Brother? Yes, Louis definitely picked the right ally.

**Author's Note:**

> dont worry, chapters will be longer than this. any questions you have, feel free to ask in the comments. i'll answer all of them.


End file.
